I'm a relatively novice jumper (~42 jumps, about 10 DZs, all types of weather). Lately, I've mostly been jumping with a Pilot 210 and fell in love with it. Given I weigh 220lbs with no gear, that'd give me around 1.17 loading. All landings on this canopy have been very smooth and standing up, albeit precision is still highly lacking.

I'm tired of renting and looking into investing in my own rig. Friends tell me I should probably be looking for a 190 because I'll probably downsize fairly quick. I've considered Sabre2 190 and Pilot 188 as options. Is this too aggressive for my profile? How different should I expect a Pilot 188 to feel comparing to a 210? Would a PD Optimum 193 reserve be sufficient?

You're already jumping gear that most would say is a little too small for you. Moving down to a 190 would put you at 1.3 on your main and reserve. I would suggest sticking with a 210 for a few hundred jumps.

Not to offend you but in 42 jumps you haven't really seen "all types of weather" and landed in all of it.

But ya never know when you need to put it down LIKE THIS (note: the heavy breathing was to help keep the visor from fogging up, in thru nose out thru mouth-mouthport)

Do you think you're ready to take your current canopy downwind into a backyard?

At 42 jumps, you probably haven't gotten the slightest clue about what you don't know yet. That's not a really terrible thing, if you're open to learning and filling up your skill bucket before your luck bucket runs out.

You say you've experienced it in all types of weather, I HIGHLY doubt that. Usually when the weather gets cooky, the first people to get grounded are the n00bs. That's again because you don't know what you don't know and could easily make a bad decision without knowing the possibilities given the conditions.

as an absolute Total F***ing New Guy, this statement says it all..."Lately, I've mostly been jumping with a Pilot 210 and *fell in love with it*."...Stay with it for another 50 jumps or so....then decide.

Thanks for all the invaluable feedback guys! I guess it's all pretty one-sided here. Given that I cannot (or haven't tried at the very least) to do all of these things (http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=47) I'll stick to my happy Pilot 210 until I get a solid number of jumps and experience.

So on a related note, Should I be looking for a PD Optimum 218 Reserve then? Will that be sufficient?

If anyone has any additional feedback or suggestions I'd love to hear it. thnx!

>Should I be looking for a PD Optimum 218 Reserve then? Will that be sufficient?

If you are currently comfortable flying a Pilot 210 an Optimum 218 is probably a good choice. If you can, get a demo Optimum from PD; knowing how your reserve flies is a valuable skill. You might even try a few different sizes.